Every time Deuce rests his soft head on Paula Peyton with a sigh, he seems to express his appreciation.

If not for Peyton, after all, the 10-year-old collie she adopted in October might not have found a permanent home.

Deuce is the second senior dog (generally, age 8 or older) adopted by the Delaware resident in four years.

“They (older dogs) are so grateful; they just know they’ve been given a second chance,” said Peyton, 70. “They’re not big on treats, food or playing; it’s just about time spent with them.”

For some central Ohio dog lovers, the key question isn’t: How much is that puppy in the window?

Instead, they want to know how to give the 10-year-old with “terror in her eyes” or the 8-year-old “gentle giant” a comfortable home during its final years.

Columbus-area pet-rescue groups and shelters, however, have too few Paula Peytons to call as they seek to find homes for their least desirable pooches: the elderly ones.

“We could have hundreds of older dogs, but they are harder to place — and, unfortunately, we can’t assist them all,” said Kellie DiFrischia, director of the rescue group Columbus Dog Connection on the East Side.

“People are looking for a puppy, a young dog. They think 2 or 3 is old.”

A senior dog, DiFrischia said, might remain in a foster-care system for more than a year before finding a home.

And, sometimes, that home ends up belonging to a rescue staff member, said Cindy Sheets, founder of the Central Ohio Dog Rescue League in Hilliard. (A 13-year-old Pomeranian, for example, is living out her days with Sheets in her home.)

Older dogs, rescue officials say, are often let go because their owners can no longer — or are unwilling to — care for them.

Yet they can drain a rescue group’s resources.

“We hate to tie up a foster home for a long time when we could adopt three or four (younger dogs) in the time it takes to adopt a senior,” she said.

To take in — or not to take in — a senior dog is one of the most difficult decisions that rescue organizations face, said DiFrischia, noting that a dog’s health, age and temperament as well as space availability in foster homes are among the factors weighed.

Although awareness of the need is increasing, she said, “If we could get more people to adopt older dogs, it would help shelters and rescues tremendously.”

Emily Porensky sensed the relief in the voice on the other end of the phone when she called Columbus Dog Connection in the fall about a golden-retriever mix she saw online. The rescue group had been concerned about finding a home for the large (105 pounds), older (8) Benny — one of 13 senior dogs pulled from the home of a Morrow County man who died in the spring of 2012.

An elderly, trained dog fit the lifestyle of Porensky, a clinical psychologist, and husband Paul, a neurosurgery resident at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University.

“He goes to bed when we go to bed, and he stays asleep until we wake him up,” said Mrs. Porensky, 30.

The typically calmer temperament of older dogs is one benefit to such adoptions, said veterinarian Susan Barrett, who has taken in several such dogs.

“A lot are already housebroken or have a good idea,” said Barrett, a clinical assistant professor at the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine.

“They are not as destructive as a puppy. They can become your friend really quickly.”On the downside: The more geriatric a dog, the greater the chance of serious medical concerns — such as cancer, kidney failure or dental issues.

“Dogs are like people,” Barrett said, “and the older you get, the more illness you get, the more medical expenses you have.”

Both DiFrischia and Sheets said their rescue groups conduct full medical work-ups on dogs and alert potential owners to concerns.

During the first few weeks in the Porenskys’ Worthington home, Benny needed skin biopsies.

Mrs. Porensky recalled thinking: “Did we just get a dog that we’ve fallen in love with in two weeks and he’s going to die in a year?”

The biopsies proved normal, but Mr. Porensky said the couple wouldn’t have regretted the adoption had they lost Benny within a few months.

“The rewarding thing about adopting an old dog is you get to make these old dogs — they’re basically people — comfortable in their old age,” said Mr. Porensky, noting that, medically, Benny requires only daily arthritis and thyroid medications.

For her part, Peyton did have reservations about adopting a senior dog.

She wondered how, after losing her husband in 2007, she would handle the grief of losing an older pooch sooner than she would a puppy.

She wanted a companion for both her and Maggie — the 13-year-old golden retriever she has had since Maggie was a puppy — but couldn’t handle a younger dog.

Peyton adopted her first senior dog, a 12-year-old collie named Tippy, in 2009.

“I knew I would get attached, but I feel good knowing they are not going to die in a shelter.”

Tippy, adopted from Almost Home Dog Rescue of Ohio, spent two years chasing balls and playing in the woods before she died, Peyton said.“She had two years of someone loving her."